An image of old age as a power struggle

Literary fiction

With her second novel, Bodies, the author and screenwriter Klára Vlasáková has again drawn a strong response from readers and critics, confirming her position as a talented writer who focuses on contemporary issues. Once more, she gives a voice to those who, for various reasons, find themselves on the margins of society – this time, older women. Marie, a submissive woman in her sixties, earns some extra money babysitting and caring for the infirm in order to support her grown-up daughter, who belittles and financially exploits her. Vlasáková vividly demonstrates that it is not just one complicated mother–daughter relationship which is to blame here, but the wider social context in which older women become invisible. The worship of youth and the reinterpretation of the lives of previous generations has led to us losing the notion that age equals wisdom. Moreover, in connection with the second sex, there is hardly an abundance of capital that can be used to buy off time for a while. Vlasáková has the ability to spot revealing contrasts in things and weave her essayistic/journalistic style into a powerful story of the maternal bond and the vulnerability of bodies – something that unites all of us in spite of our differences.

Klára Vlasáková (1990) is a novelist, dramatist and journalist. Her first novel, Praskliny (Cracks, 2020), was nominated for the Jiří Orten Prize, awarded to authors under the age of 30. In addition to writing scripts for film – the drama Běžná selhání (Ordinary Failures) directed by Cristina Groșan premiered at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival–, television, comics and radio plays, she writes for several Czech media outlets. Těla (Bodies) is her second novel. In December 2023, the book became the fiction book of the year in a poll by the Czech daily Deník N.